Finding Your Marbles
A Mental Health Survival Guide

Since my original post on resources for rape survivors, 10 Things to Do If You Have Been Raped, I have received hundreds of emails from readers who are looking for resources that can help them survive the first stages of healing from rape. Since then, I’ve been searching for “first aid” resources, resources that can provide immediate support and help for people who are in a crisis and need help NOW.

It has taken a year, but I have found two resources that I feel are the best resources out there for rape survivors in crisis. They are both easily accessible, friendly, and best of all, they are provided by people who know exactly what rape survivors need in order to heal. Enough from me. Here they are:

Continue reading “Two New Resources for Rape Survivors” »

Last week I was talking to a friend of mine who was having trouble starting a healing journal. He had kept a journal before, but he was finding it difficult to use a journal as a healing tool.

I believe in the healing power of creative expression, and especially in the power of writing. Writing allows you to have a safe place to explore your own emotions and feelings, and it has an incredible way of helping you connect with your inner self. I think that if you learn to write, and you learn to trust your writing, you will be well along the path to recovery.

In this article, I am going to share some of the things that I did to get started with my healing journal, and I’ll also share some of the tricks I use to “protect” my writing.

Continue reading “How To Start A Healing Journal” »

There are hundreds of online mental health forums, covering everything from depression to synesthesia. Some of them are quite large, like the About.com forums, and others are grassroots forums that emerged around small communities of mental illness sufferers who joined together to support each other as they struggled to cope with their mental illness and hopefully get on the road to recovery.

Online forums can be a great resource to help you manage your mental illness and to help you with your recovery. They provide you with a great opportunity to meet with other people who are suffering from the same conditions and talk about your problems in a safe, anonymous environment.

I have participated in several mental health forums, both as a member and as an administrator, and I have written this guide to both help you choose a mental health forum and to get the best out of your mental health forum experience.

Continue reading “A Guide to Online Mental Health Forums” »